What happened
On Saturday, August 15, 1998, at 15:00, a Piper J3 C with registration EC-GQE was conducting a private cross-country flight as part of an aerial raid traveling from Great Britain toward Spain. Before departing from Challock, UK, the pilot contacted the Calais tower to inquire about local weather conditions but did not seek further meteorological information.
While flying over the English Channel, the weather conditions deteriorated significantly. The pilot attempted to fly beneath the cloud layer, which resulted in a period of extreme low altitude near the water's surface before the aircraft climbed between two cloud layers. During this time, the pilot experienced uncertainty regarding the accuracy of the two portable GPS units on board. After approximately one hour of searching for visual landmarks, the pilot identified the ground and initiated an immediate emergency landing. The aircraft struck a soft, sloping field near the hamlet of Sombre, approximately two kilometers from the coast, resulting in damage to the landing gear and propeller.
The investigation
The investigation focused on the flight preparation and the aircraft's equipment. The aircraft was equipped with minimum VFR instrumentation but lacked a directional gyro and an artificial horizon. One of the portable GPS units was mounted on the dashboard near the compass. At the time of the landing, the aircraft had approximately ten liters of fuel remaining in the tanks.